True believers
True believers are protected by God Almighty. Need we then be afraid, you think?
Demons cannot possess us. Satan cannot either. And he has to seek God’s permission to touch us (Job 2:2-7). As one of the enemies of our soul, Satan can tempt us. But he cannot “whisper in my ear”. And he can’t get inside my head – because Holy Spirit is there!
31 What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us? – Romans 8:31
The dark forces around us
There is no need to be afraid of the dark forces around us. They are there, but we can be confident that the Holy Spirit is “there” also, for us. And He is closer than “out there”.
The reality is He is in us. And He is absolutely, abundantly greater than any and all dark forces, whatever curses, any casting of evil spells or being hatefully jinxed by anyone:
“Curses cannot hurt you unless you deserve them. They are like birds that fly by and never light.” – Proverbs 26:2 GNT
“Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].” – 1 John 4:4
Evil people might kill us
Jesus said that perhaps evil people might kill us (as Hebrews 11 shows in verses 35-40), but: What can they do to us after we are dead? Absolutely nothing! According to the Bible, what can they do? …Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
4 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
God is just as concerned with each of us today, as He was in ancient times as He guided and protected His peoples, [as] recorded in the Old Testament. – Source: The Mystery of the Gospel has been revealed
“…the curse without cause
does not come and alight
[on the undeserving]”
– Proverbs 26:2
For more, read:
-
- Ghosts, Spirits and Demons – What we know from Scripture about …other dimensions… angels, Satan, demons, spirits and ghosts
- Why all my pain and sorrow, my sickness and worries? – Living In This God Damned World: The effects
- Satan the Deceiver
- About Satan: a series on our Enemy
Born Brand New
This is the reality of our personal faith in Christ:
I am a new creation of God. In that very moment in time in which we were born again from above… we were given a very real new life through Christ. That’s past tense. It happened. It has already been done by God. (So my question: So – how can you lose it?)
Think about it: If (since) God has us in His Hands, how can any curse, any spell, any “jinx”, any demon… get past God? God Almighty is my refuge and my strength. He has promised His protection.
All the “old things have passed away – behold all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are not as before Christ – because God made us “brand new” inside.
My Paraphrase
I like this paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 5:17. I wrote:
Therefore, since that very moment in time
in which I humbly repented
and actually turned
to Jesus Christ as my Savior,
I am now, here on earth,
in Christ,
and God Himself has transformed me here on earth into
a brand new type of creature.
I am not a mere human, even though I look the same;
the old me, that which fell way short of God’s glory,
passed away in that moment of salvation
in which I was changed forever by God;
behold, now and forever more –
the new things of God
have come into my life
and I am no longer what I used to be.
I am a brand new creation.
– Paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 5:17. Paraphrased and personalized by the author of this article.
We are brand new creatures
After our “rebirth” – we look the same as before Christ, and have a body as before Christ, however:
Our spirit has been made alive (Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13) – and the Spirit of God is now residing in us, real time. Believe it. We can live stronger.
We now are not slaves to sin, so we do not HAVE TO sin as those who are without Christ (Romans 6:10-14). So “when sin comes’a knockin’ – hit em in the noggin.” When sin wants you to sin – Don’t Let It. You don’t want to go there.
Knowing we are “brand new”, Paul acknowledge that we still walk in the flesh as mortal men just like everyone on earth (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
“We too are only men of the same nature as you”, he says (Acts 14:15). We still are human, but, with a huge difference: we have been born again.
Paul’s mission was “bringing the good news” to those who will listen. That is the mission for all believers — not just missionaries, evangelists and preacher/teachers.
Turn from these useless and meaningless things
Paul’s message is our message: “that you turn from these useless and meaningless things – to the living God….”
“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are only men of the same nature as you, bringing the good news to you, so that you turn from these useless and meaningless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them. – Acts 14:15
Power Only in Jesus
Christians can, regrettably, give-in to sin. But, from the moment we were saved – we became capable of resisting sin.
We are no longer slaves to sin, to obey sin. We can choose His power inside us. We can let Him guide us to live more and more in conformity with holiness as we mature (Romans 6:6; Romans 6:16; Romans 6:18; Romans 6:22).
With wisdom, we are capable of discerning between right and wrong – and in His strength we can stand strong. What is natural for the believer’s new nature – must be put on. It’s not automatic. Little by little, we grow.
Just as there is salvation only in Jesus, there is spiritual strength only in Jesus (through His Spirit).
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among people by which we must be saved [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation].” – Acts 4:12
Covered by the Holy Spirit and His angels
The spirit world is subject to God. And God resides inside us. So, since our spiritual rebirth – we live with all the spiritual dimensions covered by the Holy Spirit and His angels. We are protected by Almighty God. We ourselves are not powerful in and of ourselves, but we are “divinely powerful”:
“…because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind]. – 1 John 4:4
“Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” – v4 of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Each Christian living in the Spirit is a formidable force against all other forces, all the forces of darkness. Each believer “living in the Spirit” is spiritually powerful – to destroy evil thinking and to take captive our own thoughts and our own purposes in life – so that we can lead a life that is always growing deeper in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ:
“5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ….”
Paul says nothing can be victorious over us – to take away our salvation, and here he also reveals that there are many forces around us in the spiritual dimensions.
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39
Pauls tells us there are many “created things” out there: “…angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing“. That is a huge force against us. And we can be tripped-up. So our response is to humble our heart, cast our cares on a loving God – and be alert:
1 Peter 5:6-10 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time,7 casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].
8 Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. [You do not suffer alone.]
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be].
But: God is greater than all the evil around us, every “other created thing” (v9). After all – He created everything that is anything. Only God pre-existed. Only God “has been – and ever will be”. No other creature is out there of it’s own creation, because God alone is eternal.
“…The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord; on them he has built the world.” – 1 Samuel 2:8
So that means that all those spiritual powers, malignant, evil, enemies of God – are subject to His power. But we must never forget: evil powers are not subject to us. They are subject to Him. Satan had to request permission before trying Job (Job 2:2-7). Satan will try to sift us like wheat, but God is greater than he. He has His Hands on us to protect us.
“…destroy
evil thinking and to
take captive our own thoughts and
our own purposes in life….”
– 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
We ourselves are not powerful (yet). It is the power within us that is the power. To be powerful against evil, we must call upon the name of Jesus, pray in the name of Jesus.
This is what happened when folks tried to be powerful in their own right. They even used the name of Jesus, but, instead of being rightly related to the Lord, they acted in the flesh (recorded as a warning to us):
They said to the evil spirits, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven brothers, who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but you—who are you?”
16 The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off. – Acts 19:11-16
Beware of Evil People
People can be evil. “Barnabas and Saul arrived at Salamis“, on the island of Cyprus, and in Paphos found “a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus”. He also was known as Elymas the sorcerer. So, “[d]Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him, looked steadily at Elymas, 10 and said”
“You [Elymas] who are full of every [kind of] deceit, and every [kind of] fraud, you son of the devil, enemy of everything that is right and good, will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? – Acts 13:10
Evil people can be full of all kinds of horrible deceit, all kinds of fraud. And each is a “son of the devil”, an “enemy of everything that is right and good”, so bad that they might even “never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord”.
The Lord’s ways are “straight paths”. His paths do not wander into sin, into falsehoods, into perverse errors of thought and action. If we get into those… then we have gotten off His path. We repent, and move forward with renewed strength.
Without fear, we now live with a new mission as ambassad0rs for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:13-21). While yet on this earth – our mission is clear:
3 For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. 4 The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ….
– 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Life will definitely get tough for Christians
In these end days, life will definitely get tough for Christians. Paul actually preached, ““It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.”
21 They preached the good news to that city and made many disciples, then they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening and establishing the hearts of the disciples; encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, saying, “It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they believed [and joyfully accepted as the Messiah]. – Acts 14:21-23
We must not think of ourselves as special, (in the sense that…) as if we will somehow escape tribulations.
“The sufferings of persecuted Christians has been happening for years. Ask any Christians in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Eritrea, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Pakistan, Nigeria — if they are in tribulations! Yes, the tribulations of verse 9 – not The Great Tribulation period.”
– Source: We are now in “Birth Pangs” times, and then – the End
Also read: What a wild and woolly rollercoaster ride we are on | Those who kill the body | I fear no evil
If we are true to Him, trials and tribulations will very likely come upon us. Curses may fly, spells cast around us. But through it all, whatever happens, our hope is steadfast in Him. We are more than Conquerors in Christ.
Fear not. Greater is He.
FOR MORE:
The haunting of Bishop Pike, By Robin Schumacher, Exclusive Columnist with Christian Post; Opinion |
This is natural for us – so put it on
Being faithful – little by little
Why all my pain and sorrow, my sickness and worries? – Living In This God Damned World: The effects
Why believe such stupididiotic things?
Ghosts, Spirits and Demons – What we know from Scripture about …other dimensions… angels, Satan, demons, spirits and ghosts
About Satan: a series on our Enemy
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